Amid waves and cheers in Indiana, President Trump delivering his signature style and debuting his new campaign slogan "Keep America Great!" Nathan Rousseau Smith has the story.
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epa06717657 US President Donald J. Trump arrives to participate in First Lady Melania Trump's 'BE BEST' initiative launch event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 07 May 2018. The First Lady's BE BEST initiatives will focus on bullying and the opioid epidemic. EPA-EFE/SHAWN THEW ORG XMIT: STX36(Photo: SHAWN THEW, EPA-EFE)

WASHINGTON — President Trump vowed Friday to cut out the middlemen to reduce the soaring price of prescription drugs, but his long awaited address on the issue was silent on a campaign pledge to let the government directly negotiate lower prices.

Describing his plan as the "most sweeping action in history" to lower pharmaceutical prices, Trump said his administration is considering dozens of ideas to crack down on abuses in the drug approval process and lower out-of-pocket costs for consumers.

"We will have tougher negotiation, more competition and much lower prices at the pharmacy counter," Trump said in a Rose Garden address that was closely watched by drug companies and patient groups. "And it will start to take effect very soon."

But the 44-page "blueprint" rolled out by the White House indicated that many of the policy changes under consideration were still, at best, months away. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, a leading figure on the issue for the administration, said as much during a briefing with reporters shortly after the president's address.

"It's going to take time," said Azar, a former executive at drug maker Eli Lilly. "It took decades to erect this very complex, interwoven system."

Trump said he would seek to ban "gag rules" in contracts that prohibit pharmacists from telling customers when they can save money by paying cash rather than using their insurance. Azar said the administration is looking into whether it can require drug makers to disclose the price of their products in television ads.

Several patient advocacy groups described the proposals as piecemeal. Critics noted the president did not address allowing Medicare to use its purchasing power to negotiate lower prices, an idea he floated during the campaign.

"Trump’s few tough words for pharma are a cover-up for the sweetheart deal he is really offering the giant corporations that raise prices on Americans by the day," said Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's Global Access to Medicines Program.

"The White House plan does little to make medicines affordable or challenge the core problem of high drug prices: pharma’s monopoly power and abuse," he said.

Stock prices for several large drug companies rapidly increased in the hours after the address, an indication the industry does not expect major change to its business.

"These far-reaching proposals could fundamentally change how patients access medicines," Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America president Stephen J. Ubl said in a statement.

Some patient advocates have criticized the ability of drug companies to game the approval process, slowing the approval of cheaper, generic versions of their drugs. Trump vowed to get "tough on the drug makers that exploit our patent laws" but offered few specifics for how that would happen.

The White House "blueprint" indicated the Food and Drug Administration would issue new guidance on that issue later.

Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!

The drug industry has been closely scrutinizing the administration’s remarks for months. The president’s speech came days after revelations that Swiss pharmaceutical Novartis paid Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, $1.2 million for insight into how the administration would approach healthcare policy.

As a presidential candidate, Trump embraced allowing the government to negotiate directly with drug companies to lower prices in the Medicare program — an idea supported by Democrats and generally opposed by Republicans. As president, though, Trump abandoned the idea months ago in favor more traditional GOP ideas.

Democrats, who held events on Capitol Hill this week to call attention to that turnaround, blasted the president's address.

“I think very expensive champagne will be popping in drug company boardrooms across the country tonight," said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D.-Md., who met one-on-one with Trump last year to discuss drug prices.

Critics of Medicare negotiation have questioned how much could actually be saved. Azar has warned the policy could also limit the availability of some drugs.

Studies have demonstrated how the rising price of prescriptions has put a squeeze on American households. An AARP report last year found the average annual price of drugs widely prescribed to seniors increased to $12,951 from $6,425 five years ago.

Pam Holt, a retired teacher from Granger, Ind., had to refinance her home earlier this year to afford the $640-per-month co-pay for a drug she is taking for multiple myeloma that is made by New Jersey-based drug maker Celgene.

Holt, who was invited to the White House for the president's address, said she was encouraged by what she heard but will be waiting for prices to start coming down.

"Lots of promises made," Holt said. "I'd like to see it happen in my lifetime."